Getting to First Base

I AM excited for tonight’s Game 5 of the World Series. Really. Cole Hamels vs. Scott Kazmir? This could be a lot of fun!!

BUT. As I sit here and wait for one last commercial break (Flomax, Viagra, and DirecTV, oh my!), I must acknowledge with great sadness that this could be the last MLB game I watch this fall. If the Phillies win, that’s it; the fat lady sings and we’re left with no baseball until Spring Training. Sure, I’ll be glad to be rid of Joe Buck (whose broadcasts might be more outright offensive than Joe Morgan’s) and Tim McCarver, but I will miss baseball!

I want to love the World Series, and just get wrapped up in all the action, the pagentry, the dreams coming true (and the corresponding dreams of the losing team getting crushed). Instead, I can’t help but realize the finality of it.

It’s a darn long time from tonight until Opening Day ‘09. I’m praying the Rays can pull out a win tonight (and maybe even 1 or 2 more) so that number can shrink, even if it’s just by a few days.

Go Rays!

UPDATE: I am SO glad the Rays got that one run in before the game finally had to be delayed. The weather in Philly is about as miserable as weather can be; that cold-but-not-freezing rain is indescribably awful. But even that is not as bad as the idea of awarding Philiadelphia the World Series because they happened to be ahead after 5 innings when the rain became too much to play through. Now that Tampa has scored to tie it 2-2, that fear is erased. Awarding the Series on a rain delay call could be one of the biggest scar on Bud Selig’s time as commissioner of baseball.

UPDATE again: They’ve just announced that the game has been suspended, and will resume tomorrow at 8/7 cenral. It’s the first time in World Series history that a game has been suspended. So…kind of an antixlimax for Phils fans, but such is life, right?

This is just a rumor so far, but I’m already imagining future Sunday nights, with happy feelings and lower blood pressure and no need to assault my mute button every 30 seconds. I shouldn’t get ahead of myself until it’s official, but the New York Daily News has word that Joe Morgan will no longer be a part of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball broadcasts.

Could the 19-year “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcasting partnership of ESPN’s Jon Miller and Joe Morgan be coming to an end? And will their ESPN Radio call of the Rays-Phillies World Series be the final chapter?

Well-embedded baseball moles contend the answer is “yes” to both questions.

In a word: Woooooooo!

In more words: I’m sad that Joe Morgan’s broadcasting career has gone this way. I wish it had never started, so that I could just know about him as part of the Big Red Machine - the phenomenal Cincinnati Reds of the ’70s. Morgan’s play at 2nd base is legendary; he’s definitely who I’d emulate if I ever had dreams of making it big as a 2nd baseman. (Sadly, my baseball dreams ended in 6th grade, when I became too old for the no-tryout Little League, and I wasn’t good enough - and was, you know, not a boy - for the next level up.) That’s the Joe Morgan I wish I knew.

Instead, what I think of when I hear his name is a completely deficient announcer. As the linked article says, he’s been criticized by many of his contemporaries for not studying for his broadcasts. It really shows. If you ever read his weekly chats, one theme he repeats almost every week is that he doesn’t watch enough of Team X to answer a reader’s question. (You can read hilarious ripping-apart of the Joe Morgan chats here.)

This man’s JOB is to know about baseball. Any schmuck with a couple hundred dollars can see almost every single game from every single team if he/she so chooses. Morgan certainly has the dough for the Extra Innings package, so why doesn’t he seem to EVER watch a game besides the one per week he is paid to announce? Casual fans of the game should be able to look to the Sunday night announcers to teach them something about the teams on the field. Instead, Morgan skates by on either generalities or flat-out misconceptions about the players, instead of…oh, I don’t know…taking 5 seconds to peek at some baseball-reference pages maybe?

And don’t even get me started on his nonsensical hatred of statistics. He bashes even basic metrics like on-base percentage, which is highly ironic because his career, and the greatness of the Big Red Machine, was all built on OBP. It’s ridiculous. How can anyone honestly believe that “team chemistry” is more important than getting on base? Does your team get two runs if a guy is driven in by a teammate who is also his BFF?

I’m not saying that players are merely compilations of stats - y’all know better than that - but let’s be real. How often does the personal closeness of a bunch of players actually, tangibly affect the outcome of a game? These guys are professionals; they each play as hard as they need to to stay in the Majors. (For some, that’s 100% effort; for others, notsomuch.) If a Player A causes some drama in the clubhouse, Player B is not going to fall apart and forget how to play baseball, or purposely fail out of spite. Team chemistry makes for nice stories, but it is not that important if players can’t get on base. Yet Morgan continues to bash all stats.

Ugh. I’ll do handsprings down the hallway if he is, indeed, gone. I’m sure Jon Miller will too.

I’m not, by any means, a sports expert. I spend as close to 24 hours as I can every day thinking about/reading about/studying/watching baseball, but NO. I am NOT any kind of expert. I’m just a fan with a mild case of Nerditis and a couple of blogs. That no more makes me an expert than any other fan, or most other baseball writers. Joe Posnanski wrote a while ago about how silly it is that he has to pick NFL outcomes and scores every week. People think he’s got some kind of magical insight that average fans can’t have, an 8-ball of stats and scores that only sportswriters are able to see.

People make that assumption about me, too, though probably to a lesser extent. In one of my classes, we spend a while every week talking about current events, including sports stories. The teacher always  - ALWAYS - calls on me, out of a class of around 50 kids, to detail the week’s sports stories. I’m a sports writer, she reasons, so I must know what’s up. And yeah, usually I do know what has happened in major sports; I’d be out of work in a hurry if I didn’t.

But please don’t come to me looking for future outcomes. Odds are good that I can’t predict with any greater accuracy over time than you, your mother, or her next-door neighbors who never watch TV. Reading extra Deadspin every day doesn’t make me better at knowing who’s going to win the World Series; I can’t counsel anyone on which team to bet on.

Buuuuuuut….I’m a polite girl. I would never say the things in the previous paragraph to someone’s face. People do ask me, in all sincerity, to share some special insights and “expert” predictions. I always politely deflect the question. “All I want is a 7-game series,” I tell them. “Philly winning tonight at Tampa was a good start.”

Bam. Question dodged. If I never make a cut-and-dried prediction, then by golly I can’t be wrong! Man, I think I should be a baseball “expert” on TV!!

Something about me you might not know, unless you are my mom, is that I like to sing. So every Thursday, shortly after The Office ends, I head over to my campus church to sing in its choir. Tonight wasn’t any different than last Thursday, or the one before that, or the one before that.

I watched as much baseball as I could before I left, but honestly I had lost hope for the Red Sox. I mean, they were down 3 games to 1 and it looked like Tampa Bay had a pretty tight grip on Game 5 and therefore the AL penant. It was 5-0 Rays, the Sawx bats looked beleaguered and completely ineffective, and I thought I’d spare myself the torture of watching them get spanked - again - and just leave for choir.

So I missed all the good stuff, up until Kevin Youkilis was up to bat for Boston in the bottom of the 9th. It was 7-0, Tampa Bay at one point?? Are you kidding me?? And…those sleepy Boston bats woke up, all at the same time? WHAT?!?!?!? One of the greatest single-game comebacks in MLB playoff history…and I wasn’t there. Immediately, two items showed up in my Google reader with the simple title Unbelievable. And those were written by people who saw it happen. And, for good measure, here’s more immediate-postgame reaction.

The main headline at redsox.com called this win “magical.” It had to have been, following a week in which Tampa Bay has put more dents in the Green Monster than there are shoes in my closet, and legendary pieces of Fenway lore started setting themselves on fire. I mean…yikes. It was a glum time for Red Sox fans. (Not that I am one of those, but I have enough Sawx fan friends that I can feel pain when things are going badly. And things certainly were bad this week.

But now….will it be bad again? Was this one game enough to propel the Red Sox into another of their historic October comebacks, or was it just delaying heartbreak by two more days? Game 6 is Saturday at Tropicana Field. Hopefully I won’t do anything stupid like join a Saturday choir.

Cubs fans aren’t taking their team’s exit from the playoffs very well, but here’s some good news: If you’re a Marlins fan, you can pay off this guy and double your team’s fan base!

Here’s what’s up with baseball, in case you haven’t followed. Today is an off-day, so it’s a good chance to catch up.

American League:

Both AL divisional series were wrapped up on Monday. The Tampa Bay Rays finished off the Chicago White Sox in Chicago. I am happy for the Rays, but it always makes me a little sad when a team doesn’t get to celebrate important victories in front of their home fans. I also think I want to be a part of one of those champagne celebrations someday, but I’ll probably change my mind as soon as I’m actually in that situation. It would take a lot of showers to get all the champagne out of my hair, no?

Later Monday night, the Red Sox beat the Angels 3-2 with a walkoff single in the 9th. I watched that game at a Buffalo Wild Wings with two very intense, very nervous Boston fans. When the Angels tied the game with a 2-run hit in the 8th, I heard more f-bombs in a 30-second timespan than I ever have before. It was intense, and rather awkward to be around, becuase I like the Red Sox, but I’m not a FAN, so I didn’t feel as awful when the 2-0 lead was blown.  Anyway, it turned out well for the Sawx and their fans.

What’s next: The American League takes an extra day off while the NLCS Game 1 is being played, but play will resume at Tampa Bay on Friday night.  The Red Sox will send Dice-K Matsuzaka to the mound to face the Rays’ James Shields.

Keep an eye on: The crowd. It has been historically difficult to draw fans to Tropicana Field, even this year while the Rays were in 1st place for most of the season. Word is that the crowd could have as many Red Sox fans as it does Rays ones, taking away any home field advantage that St. Pete might have had.

National League:

Cubs fans are selling their loyalty because the Northsiders are finished, again. That makes 100 years without at World Series wins, and a lot of sad folks in blue over the weekend. They fell to the Dodgers after looking helpless for all three games of that series - the Cubs never scored more than three in one game. My very first MLB game was a Cubbies game, so I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for them. But I’m pretty pleased for the Dodgers for a couple of reasons: Joe Torre gets to stick his tongue out at the Yankees and enjoy the postseason while his former employers watch from home; and one of my favorite people in all of baseball is former Royals shortstop Angel Berroa. I’m pleased that he gets to be a part of the postseason; it’s such a stark contrast from being stuck in the minor leagues (which is how I met him) for the last two seasons.

The Brewers did manage one win against Philiadelphia, but the Phils recovered to knock the Brewers out on Sunday.

What’s next: Tomorrow night, it will be a matchup of Cole Hamels vs. Derek Lowe. Hamels pitched brilliantly in his last game a week ago, and Lowe wasn’t bad either in his win over Chicago.

Keep an eye on: Home field advantage. mlb.com seems to think the Phils are a lock in this series because of the distinct difference between Citizens Bank Park in Philly and Dodger Stadium. Will it matter as much as it seemed to during the regular season?

Bonus material: Lots of Cole Hamels, if you please.

Typically, I don’t love when baseball players celebrate a home run before the ball leaves the yard. It seems so egotistical; often, it looks as if the player is saying “Hey everyone! Look at how great I am! Worship me!”

But Alexei Ramirez flinging his arms in the air in jubilation after he hit a no-doubt grand slam last night…I can’t have a problem with that.

Photo here, video here. Alexei Ramirez wasn’t showboating; he was releasing the sheer unfettered joy that baseball brings. In that moment, the 26-year-old rookie became a little boy who is PUMPED to be where he is. Even this White Sox hater was super-excited for him.

This home run forced a Game 163, which will decide whether the White Sox or the Twins will represent the American League Central in the MLB postseason. It will be televised tonight on TBS at 6:30. I’m pumped, even though neither of these teams is “my” team; last year showed how utterly thrilling a one-game play-in like this can be, and if tonight is half as theatrical as that Rockies-Padres play-in last year, it will be a great night.

I know… I think and write a lot about what it means to be a sports fan. Why be a Royals fan? Why keep rooting for any team? Why not just watch a sport and enjoy it all? I could do this all day.

Anyway,  I didn’t wake up this morning with the intention of writing about any of that. But then I read an anonymous comment on the brilliant blog of Rany Jazayerli, and I’m just…dumbstruck. I’ll ignore all the grammar for now, and just give you this nugget in all its glory:

OMG — too much obsessed about the Royals Doc. Root for the Rays, who are well past the Royals in terms of even worse stadium and small market baseball but who are much, more exciting that writing pages about mediocre players. I would love to have a fan of your obsessiveness talking Raysball.

It’s a uniform doc. It’s a uniform. ROOT for a concept. If KC was doing well I would root for them because they represent a need of winning that makes baseball a truly nation-wide league in place of a lots of big market, cable-network associated teams usually winning.

AHHHHHH, DUMB OVERLOAD! Let’s break this down, bit by bit (Fire Joe Morgan style). Anonymous’ stuff is in bold, my insanity is not.

OMG — too much obsessed about the Royals Doc.

Bah. If it’s OK for Fan A to be obsessed with one team, it should be OK for Fan B to be obsessed with another. That’s why we have different teams and not one, big, intrasquad scrimmage every day, right? Whatever.

Root for the Rays,

Don’t tell Rany what to do! He’s a grown man who can make his own rooting choices, thankyouverymuch.

who are well past the Royals in terms of even worse stadium and small market baseball but who are much, more exciting that writing pages about mediocre players.

True, the Rays are exciting this year. But Rany is a Royals fan; says so right in his blog’s profile. Yes, the Rays play in a stupid dome. Yes, they are a small market. Yes, Rany writes a LOT about mediocre players (the Royals). But why did “anonymous” even bother with the post in the first place? Rany’s writing is awesome, but it’s pretty numbers-heavy (he’s among the founding fathers of Baseball Prospectus, so…yeah. Numbers.) so it might scare away people who don’t care THAT much about the Royals. Not our brave little Anonymous. He soldiered right on through all those pages.

I would love to have a fan of your obsessiveness talking Raysball.

It’s hardly Rany’s fault that, inexplicably, nobody cares about the Rays, who are an exciting team about to play October baseball for the first time. If people don’t care yet, they might never care.

It’s a uniform doc. It’s a uniform.

I don’t like the condescending use of “doc” at all. Yes, Jazayerli is a doctor. But to repeatedly sling “doc” at him like that is just kind of jerk-esque. That’s beside the point completely though. It is NOT just a uniform. It’s a city, a tradition, old greats and new prospects. It’s developing irrational fan-love for little-known players and following them in good times and in bad. It’s being able to say “I suffered through those awful seasons” while you brush confetti out of your hair after you finally get to attend your team’s World Series parade.

ROOT for a concept. If KC was doing well I would root for them because they represent a need of winning that makes baseball a truly nation-wide league in place of a lots of big market, cable-network associated teams usually winning.

Go ahead and call it a concept if it makes you feel smarter, anonymous friend, but what you’ve described just now is called a BANDWAGON. And Royals fans, or any kind of respectable fans, only ever go near bandwagons to slash the tires.

You go ahead and root for your beloved concept; I (and Rany, and like 16 other people) will continue to root for, and write about, our TEAM.

I just got off the phone with a customer service representative from mlb.com who probably hates his job, and his life, right now. A friend texted me this morning to remind me that there are TWENTY Major League Baseball games today, because of a number of double-headers (including my Royals). I’ve written here before about how much I despise the site’s blackout policy, but I went against my better judgment today and bought a one-day subscription. I mean, twenty baseball games on the computer, with college football all day on the TV…that sounds like heaven to me.

I was pretty mad when I wrote the first post. But that was when I didn’t get to watch games as part of a free trial. Today, I paid to watch games that are not being televised. And I’ve never been angry enough to actually swear at the customer service rep; usually I think I’m mad, but by the time I get through to a person I’ve cooled down and I can’t bring myself to take out my ire on a person.

So here’s the situation today: It’s Saturday, so college football is king on TV. None of the 20 MLB games are on TV because of all the football. I guess that’s fine, but I’d really like to watch some baseball. HOWEVER, pretty much all the baseball games this afternoon are blacked out because the TV networks have the rights to televise them. But, you all are a smart bunch; I think you have already picked up on the fact that no TV networks are exercising their rights to broadcast baseball. It’s a football day.

So what the hell was the point of me paying anything to watch games that aren’t on?? I tried logic with this rep. I didn’t just ask what the blackout policy was; I already knew of their money-grubbing ways (born, no doubt, from being tucked so far in bed with TV networks that neither will ever come out from other the covers). I just wanted to know WHY.

Me: Yes, I understand that the TV networks have the rights to broadcast baseball games today. But none of them are exercising that right!

Rep: Yes.

Me: So…they get money from their advertisers for having those exclusive rights while they also make bank by showing football games instead. And you get money from mlb.tv subscribers, whether or not they can watch the games. Is there any way for the customers to win here?

Rep: …

Me: What the [beefy] is the point? Why did I buy a subscription for 20 [beefy] games I can’t even watch?

Rep: The policy says that — well you can listen to the games that are blacked out. There is no blackout policy for audio feeds.

Me: I already have an audio subscription. I don’t want to listen*; I WANT TO [beefy] WATCH.

Rep, showing that he’s never been a sports fan in his life: You can watch games 45 minutes after their conclusion.

Me: …

Rep: It’s not our policy; it’s the TV networks’.

Then the rep hit me with this gem:

Rep: Did you check the blackout policy for your ZIP code before you signed up? You should have checked that fir–

Me: So it’s either the TV networks’ fault or it’s MINE? And you are blameless. Really? Do you know ANYTHING about dealing with customers? I want my [beefy] money back.

Rep: I can’t do that, because you didn’t check the blackout policy.

Me: [beefy] [beefy] [beefy] [beefy]?!?!? You’re not helpful at all. Your greed-driven industry makes me want to [beefy] some [beefy] up. Have a nice [beefy] day.

[hangs up]

*I already have an audio account anyway. If I just wanted to listen, I would have done it with that account.

At one point I mentioned that someone I know got a blackout-free account because he was using his considerable media exposure to talk about what crap the blackout policy is. When I brought this up, the rep put me on hold (for the first and only time in the call, oddly enough), but then came back and denied to within an inch of his life that such an account can exist. (But I just confirmed it with the guy I know who has it - it definitely exists.)

Games that are being played right now:

KC @ CLE (double-header)

ATL @ NYM

DET @ CWS

MIN @ BAL

Games on that list I can watch on mlb.tv (the rest are blacked out due to TV restrictions)

MIN @ BAL

Games that are actually on TV

….none.

I’m not trying to dissuade anyone from subscribing to mlb.tv. I’m just saying…well, you don’t exactly get what’s promised to you. And if you’re not satisfied with your subscription purchase, it is your fault.

Yesterday I was browsing the Michael Phelps facebook page - not his personal profile but the public fan page - and I came accross this discussion of the merits of his accomplishments:

Why in the world do we care so much about a human who can swim really fast and win a bunch of shiny things? Who really gives a s*** as it doesn’t mean a thing to my life or your life. Why are people who make great advances and actually better/prolong people’s lives (discoverers of new medicines, surgeries, devices, etc.) quickly forgotten (or not even known in the first place). For example, who knows the name of the physician that pioneered coronary bypass surgery and thus improved/saved/prolonged the lives of literally millions of people? I’m quite sure no one on this board knows this person (without googling it of course). The world makes no sense… we “worship” (this was the word use by a Chinese fan of Phelps on CNN.com today) such trivial events like winning a bunch of shiny things and ignore those who truly better our society…. completely crazy.

On some level, I do actually agree with this guy. “Worship” is an awfully strong word to use on an athlete, isn’t it? I have to stop and think about my priorities all the time, and I ponder whether it’s healthy or worthwhile at all to devote so much of myself to following and writing about sports. And then I wonder about people who play sports professionally - is it worth sacrificing family time and jeopardizing their future health to have, at best, a few years of elite professioanl performance? And of course, I wonder the same thing on a greater scale about Olympians. These people dedicate so much of themselves for such a long time, with the ultimate goal of competing in widely televised amateur games. When it’s phrased that way, I wonder why anyone would sit out their childhood and become a slave to a sport.

I also look at fans and how much we do for sports. We cast aside our regular budgets to go to a big game, scoffing at gas prices as we travel all over for our teams. We plan our social lives around who’s playing whom, and whether it’s on TV. We may wear embarrassing clothing or body paint, or make posters proposing marriage to our favorite pitcher (Yeah, I did that once), in some interminable quest to look like a bigger fan than the other people in our section of the stadium. And some of us study, study, study; buying volume after volume of books that break down every aspect of our sport, converting the games on the field into charts on a page.

All of this…for what? Sometimes I fear that when I die, God’s going to be pissed that I spent so much time on baseball. He’ll look at my daily blog-reading time, add up the hours at the ballpark or in front of the TV or radio, and just shake His head at what a waste of a life I was. And in the meantime, I think some of my friends feel the same way. It is kind of silly, isn’t it? And yet, I’m still a sports nut, and I will not stop anytime soon, because sometimes real heroes emerge from sports. Sometimes a single hit in one ballgame is enough to send the usually mean-spirited cynics at Deadspin to the edge of tears (or further), because sometimes a child with cancer uses baseball to show us how to be better people.

If you haven’t already, learn about life and humanity from John Challis, an 18-year-old who just died of cancer. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazettte ran an excellent, bookmarkable story on Challis this spring. I can learn a lot from this kid:

“I guess I can see why people see me as an inspiration,” he said. “But why do people think it’s so hard to see things the way I do? All I’m doing is making the best of a situation.”

John then raises his voice.

“Why can’t people just see the best in things? It gets you so much further in life. It’s always negative this and negative that. That’s all you see and hear.”

* * * * * * * * * * *

So rest in peace, John Challis. Though I never met you, you inspired me today. You showed me, through baseball and football, how to be human and how to be strong. You’ll never win eight gold medals or set any kind of world record, but you showed that you know more about life and love than most adults, let alone teenagers, and your message is a bright beam of light in a dark cynical age.

“I used to be afraid, but I’m not afraid of dying now, if that’s what you want to know. Because life ain’t about how many breaths you take. It’s what you do with those breaths.” - John Challis

“I wrote this song about you/
I wrote this song about you/

Just to let you know that I hate your guts/

And I think you suck.” -Reel Big Fish, with the most useful song lyric EVER

Dear MLB.tv,
It’s lovely that you and Fruit of the Loom wanted to give me a 5-day risk-free trial. Really. Very nice. But I’m a Royals fan, and my credit card is billed to a ZIP code in Nebraska, so your blackout policy dictates that I will never, EVER be able to watch a game that my team plays. EVER.

Coincidentally, your blackout policy dictates that I will never, EVER spend my hard-earned money on your “service”. The policy extends beyond greed and into complete and utter ridiculousness. My ZIP code is in western Nebraska; it really wouldn’t decrease ticket sales at this afternoon’s game. I’m not going to get in my car and drive from the southwest corner of Nebraska* to Chicago for one ballgame.

*not where I live now, but it’s where I’m billed. Another beef with the website - there’s no opportunity to enter a ZIP code different from my billing location.

Unlike you, I like baseball more than I like fleecing consumers. So let me watch a ballgame. More specifically, let me watch MY TEAM’s ballgame. Believe it or not, I want to watch the Royals even if I feel like they’ll never win another game. I don’t want the Giants/Astros game, nor the Tigers and Blue Jays, and especially not the Rockies and Diamondbacks. Please, please don’t make me watch an NL West* game. I’d rather die.

Spitefully yours,

Minda

*WORST. DIVISION. EVER! The NL West is led by the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers, who are only 2 games over .500. How can two teams be that mediocore and still be in first place? What a joke. This is coming from a Royals fan, no less; it’s pretty bad when even I can talk smack about someone else in baseball. If the Royals were plunked down in the NL West right now, they’d be in 3rd. But I’d bet that if they got to play all season in that farce of a Major League Baseball division, they’d run away with 1st…if even the worst of the American League got to play in the NL West for a while, they’d clean up.Exept the Mariners. They’d still be awful.